Headcanon Corner: The Reason for the Nickname · 10:27pm May 7th, 2016
Warning: Spoilers from the latest episode, Newbie Dash, abound. Proceed with caution.
It's a common trope (or perhaps an aspect of real life; I'm not entirely sure) that people on sports teams and in the military are granted nicknames. As we learned in this episode, the Wonderbolts are no exception to that. But given how every single Wonderbolt has an embarrassing nickname, I have to wonder. Is there a deeper reason for this? It can't just be a massive coincidence, can it?
Well, what if the nickname is an integral part of the Wonderbolts? Think about it. Put yourself in Rainbow Dash's horseshoes for a sec. You just got accepted into the most prestigious flight team in all of Equestria. You've been training your whole life for this moment, and it's finally happened. You're going to show them what you're made of, they're going to love you, and it's gonna be awesome.
And then, you get cocky. You make one little mistake because you were basking in your own glory, and all of a sudden, everypony's razzing you for it. It doesn't matter how disciplined you are; everyone has an ego. And when that ego's being stroked, people get overconfident. Just like Dashie did.
So, perhaps the nickname is something of a wake-up call. It's a way of saying: "You may be the best, but you're going to make mistakes. And no, you can't just sweep those mistakes under the rug and wish they'll go away. But as long as you correct your course and keep flying despite that, you're gonna go far."
Again, I could be thinking way too deeply about this, but it's a neat thought.
Oh, and an additional headcanon: Blaze's nickname is Blaze the Brat. You can check out the My Little Investigations series I wrote to see why; particularly the story I'll tag to this post.
Yeah, there is a real life equivalent regarding the use of nicknames in sports teams and the military, embarrassing nicknames in particular.
And I like how you dissected the purpose behind those nicknames as a way of reminding new members to learn from their mistakes, keep their egos in check, and more. And really, the nicknames all came off as light teasing in my opinion. While I wasn't a huge fan of the episode, I do like some of the things it did, and Spitfire truly showed why she's Captain of the Wonderbolts.
Always look both ways before crossing.
While this episode may have not helped the Wonderbolts' popularity among the fandom, it was at least an episode showing how much of a team they've become ever since the incident in Rainbow Falls, a sign of character growth in a way. Rainbow Dash's got work to do, obviously, but I bet she'll excel as a Wonderbolt soon enough.
The show was pretty much in-line with how real-world military pilots get their callsigns; to remind you of something you f'ed up.
I wonder what Spitfire's nickname was. Soarin's was Clipper, and there was Fleetfoot's nickname as well.
Personally, I think you've got a point here. These things the Wonderbolts do are to either weed out those who aren't Wonderbolt material or to tone down a pony's ego if needed.
3928194 If it helps, I don't think there's anything that won't set off certain groups of the fandom at this point. While I can understand some of the controversy surrounding No Second Prances, there are things like Celestia's behavior that are really just minor and yet people debate. Well, there's nothing wrong with that I suppose but it still is surprising at times.
This was the first episode in a long time with the Wonderbolts that didn't end with me hating them.
That's a truly beautiful and optimistic interpretation of the situation.
Though, if one were a cynical git with a heart of rusty razor blades like myself, one could imagine a slightly less lofty origin for this:
- Venerable Founder of the Wonderbolts makes a mistake that she constantly gets (good-naturedly) ribbed over by Equally Venerable Co-Founder.
- VFotW decides to exercise her mild frustration with the constant ribbing by giving a slightly embarrassing nickname to EVCF at the first instance of EVCF messing up.
- EVCF tries to make himself feel better about the situation by giving his Up-and-Coming Trainee a similarly embarrassing nickname.
- UaCT, upon later taking charge of the team, likewise bestows the "blessing of humility" upon every new recruit to his squad.
- Many years pass...
- Every FNG getting a horribly embarrassing nickname is now ensconced in Incontestable Organizational Tradition (and no one really feels all that bad about doing it, cause "Hey, we all went through it, now it's your turn!"
It seems that Surprise's nickname is "Slowpoke." I'm curious to see why you think that is when she basically seems to be a ninja.
3930967 Short answer: She subverts expectations.
Long answer: Might need its own story.
3931041 I would definitely love to see that.